7 Vegetarian Dishes You Can Make in a Crockpot

The crockpot is ideal for meat-centric Sunday suppers and weekdays when everything can cook while you’re at work, but what many consumers forget is that the slow cooker can work its magic on vegetarian dishes, too. Dishes like veggie-heavy curries, chilis, soups, and stews are also easily mastered when cooked and marinated for hours on low heat in the slow cooker. The flavors blend together, filling your house with a mouth-watering aroma, and pretty soon you have eaters of all kinds waiting for your vegetarian dinner. Check out these seven dishes that are perfect for your slow cooker, and let the appliance do all the hard work for you.

1. Slow Cooker Vegetarian Chili with Butternut Squash

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First up is a chili recipe from The Lemon Bowl that is perfect for the fall and winter harvest. Enlisting butternut squash, this Vegetarian Chili is packed with sweet and savory flavor, and it’s also full of plant-based protein and fiber thanks to beans, corn, and tomatoes. The dish can cook in the crockpot for up to 8 hours and should be served with sour cream and chips.

2. Tofu and Chickpea Curry

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To add a kick of spice to your slow cooker, follow this recipe from Cooking Light for Tofu and Chickpea Curry. Instead of leaving curries to restaurant chefs, simply leave them to your slow cooker. After you put in the minimal prep work, your slow cooker will do all the work for you. This curry is full of sweet potato, cauliflower, chickpeas, and tofu, and its smoky flavor can be attributed to the curry powder and ginger also on its ingredients list. Coconut milk ties the curry together and lends an irresistible creaminess to the dish.

3. Slow-Cooker Moroccan Lentil Stew

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To go the Moroccan route, try this Lentil Stew from Eating Well. It’s also full of flavor thanks to an array of spices, and the lentil-heavy dish is packed with protein and fiber, filling you up without filling you out. The Moroccan Lentil Stew tastes great the day of and also is perfect for workday lunch leftovers. It promises to make a lentil lover out of just about anyone.

4. Skinny Veggie Crockpot Lasagna

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The slow cooker can make vegetarian comfort food, too. This Crockpot Lasagna recipe from Pinch of Yum proves it. Packing three types of cheese, tomato sauce, and veggies on top of the noodles, the Veggie Crockpot Lasagna will make your tastebuds sing while (surprisingly) not devastating your diet. The lack of meat in the dish leaves room for more greens and one serving of this 9-serving recipes yields only 309 calories. Get ready to take a bite out of this easy guiltless slow cooker comfort.

5. Slow Cooker Broccoli Cheddar Soup

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Speaking of comfort food, there’s more where that came from in vegetarian crockpot land. Stand back, Panera, because this homemade Broccoli Cheddar Soup is not only more healthy and wholesome than the chain’s popular rendition, it’s also tastier. Le Creme de la Crumb has a recipe for Broccoli Cheddar Soup that is mastered in the slow cooker and prepped in only 15 minutes. Turn your slow cooker on low and come back in 4 to 6 hours. Your broccoli, butter, cheese, and milk will have blended together beautifully into a vegetarian dish of which you’ll definitely want seconds.

6. Slow-Cooker Root Vegetarian Stew

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Get back to your roots and add this Slow-Cooker Vegetarian Stew to your meal rotation while the vegetables are fresh in season. Gimme Some Oven’s stew is not only vegetarian, it’s vegan, too, and it’s soul-warming and satiating thanks to fibrous and hearty potatoes and veggies. Vegetarian Stew is a perfect Sunday supper dish that everyone can enjoy, and it makes great leftovers for the days following. Whether you serve it with cheese or alone, the flavors of the ingredients blend together perfectly to remind us just how good wholesome, simple food tastes.

7. Mushroom and Barley Stew

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This last recipe from Macheesmo gets down with a different kind of grain. Add barley to your back pocket and you’ll find yourself enlisting the fibrous grain time and time ahead. It’s hearty and healthy and adds an earthy texture to your dishes. Macheesmo’s Mushroom and Barley Stew provides a great example. The stew cooks in the crockpot for 10 hours and serves 6. It’s full of vegetables, beans, potatoes, barley, and herbs, and it’s filling in the best way possible. Instead of walking away from dinner in a carb coma, you’ll have fueled up the healthy way and will have energy for the day or night ahead.